Having long been convinced that born-again extremists, near the centre of power in the US of A, were behind some of the White House’s middle-east policies (especially their unconditional support of the Israeli establishment, and the co-incidental lucrative arms trade) in the hope of hastening the ‘end time’ and hence ushering in the return of Jesus Christ, I was somewhat surprised to discover that an evangelical pastor from Houston has accused the GOP of delaying Christ’s return.

I sympathize with the pastor in his view that the war in Iraq is an “unnecessary genocide” but, his primary concern seems to be that US foreign policy has “blocked Christian missionaries from working in Iraq, Iran and Syria”.

So, the self-same outfit that I accuse of wanting to usher in the ‘end time’, are accused by other born-again spokespersons of wilfully hindering the second coming.